Things I do for other collectors. Well my brother. He had game boy advance games. And the cardboard boxes they come in can get annoying to open and close. So if you look at the older Nintendo ds cases, they have a slot for gba games. Well a website called coverproject.net has gba game covers you can print to fit in DS cases. Well the thing is they arnt very good. So I went out on a mission to redo them. Here are the spines. Each one has a character and the logo on the bottom. Later I’ll show the covers, but for now just the spines.

With alignment, nothing should be placed on the page pre-maturely. Every item should have a visual connection with something else on the page. Everything should look like it belongs there, and not rushed.

GOOD EXAMPLE

In my good example, I used a bold font on top, the reason being is that’s where I want my viewers to start, I also have a sub text at a slightly smaller font size. I used a left align on the op, makes it flow nicely with the design. And at the bottom of the page I used a right align. Notice I used a different font and size for the article. Now that is just dummy text, so don;t look to much into it :). Sometimes in design, it is ok to use two different alignments, as long as it flows with the design, and not just randomly placed.

VERY BAD

In my bad example, you can still tell where to start your reading, but everything is aligned all funky. I am using a center align where it makes no sense to use it. Generally you should stay away from center alignment. At the bottom of the page, I have 3 different alignments going on, NOT COOL. Never do that. If you look at my design, you can see it just doesn’t flow well on my bad example, and that is because the use of alignment is out of WACK

Ok, so I am a collector, I like original stuff. Like for my games, I like to have the original case, cover, and manual, or I won’t buy it.. But I also like everything to match, I like repetition with my collection. So what I have done is took out my original covers and placed them in a safe place. I then reprinted them making them look nicer. I used the new ps3 logo because I think it looks nicer.. Here are some pictures..

WHAT MY GAMES LOOKED LIKED BEFORE

HERE IS WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE NOW

Thats just A-C.. Still have lots more.. Gonna be lots of ink and paper : /

Robin Williams (graphic Designer, not the actor) Quote from chapter 3 of the book “The Non-Designer’s Design Book

Chapter 3 Alignment

“Strong alignment is often the missing key to a more professional look.”

Chapter 4 Repetition

“Repetition also gives a sense of professionalism and authority to your pieces. It gives your reader the feeling that someone is in charge because repetition is obviously a thoughtful design decision.”

Chapter 5 Contrast

“If two items are not exactly the same, then make them different. Really different.”

also “Don’t be a wimp”

Chapter 6 Review

“To keep the entire page unified, align every object with an edge o some other object.”

Chapter 7 Using color

“The more practical thing that I want you to remember is that cool colors recede into the background, and warm colors come to the front.”

Ok, well I’m sure no one will ever see this, but I will post it anyway…

I am in process of redoing the Game Boy advance covers to fit into a Nintendo DS box. You say it has been done already? Well I am taking it the next step forward. The others are scans of the cardboard boxes and stretched to fit. Well I am completely redoing each cover, meaning text, images, and titles. Gonna make every spind line up real nice by adding logos to the bottom, characters above the logo, and the title to line up real nice..